"Wishtress" by Nadine Brandes

About this book:

  “She didn't ask to be the Wishtress.
    Myrthe was born with the ability to turn her tears into wishes. It's a big secret to keep. When a granted wish goes wrong, a curse is placed on her: the next tear she sheds will kill her. She needs to journey to the Well and break the curse before it claims her life--and before the king's militairen track her down. But in order to survive the journey, she must harden her heart to keep herself from crying even a single tear.
    He can stop time with a snap of his fingers.
    Bastiaan's powerful--and rare--Talent came in handy when he kidnapped the old king. Now the new king has a job for him: find and capture the Wishtress and deliver her to the schloss. But Bastiaan needs a wish of his own. When he locates Myrthe, he agrees to take her to the Well in exchange for a wish. Once she's fulfilled her end of the deal, he'll turn her in. As long as his growing feelings for the girl with a stone heart don't compromise his job.
    They are on a journey that can only end one way: with her death.
    Everyone seems to need a wish--the king, Myrthe's cousin, the boy she thinks she loves. And they're ready to bully, beg, and even betray her for it. No one knows that to grant even one of them, Myrthe would have to die. And if she tells them about her curse . . . they'll just kill her anyway.”


Series: As of now, no. As a stand-alone novel. 

Spiritual Content- “Thank the Well” is said once; Mentions of prayers, praying, & thanking someone (never specifically said Who the prayers are towards but it’s mentioned about praying to “whatever power created Talents” and begging the Well not to take someone); Mentions of the Well of Talents talking to those who receive a Talent (It talks to Bastiaan saying that it is with him); A few mentions of putting your trust in something beyond your own power, that being the power of the Well of Talents; A couple mentions of faiths & being faithful to the Well; A mention of seeing someone “on the other side” after death; A mention of being prepared to exit this world and “enter whatever eternity looked like”; 

             *Note: Myrthe is a Wishtress which is said to be the most powerful Talente; Myrthe’s grandmother bottles and sells Myrthe’s tears (called ‘wishes’) because they have the power to grant someone’s wish (they cannot bring back the dead, however); Myrthe is cursed by someone who’s eyes change and lightning sparked across her skin when reciting the curse *Spoiler* Bastiaan takes on her curse towards the very end (it changes to be more personal towards him) *End of Spoiler*; People can receive a Talent if they drink from the Well of Talents and the Well finds them worthy (Talents can range from healers that can heal the body, see the future, know if someone is lying, etc.); Those with Talents (called Talenteds) each have a Talent Mark that shows where their Talent is (such as Myrthe’s being a single “magic-white”eyelash and Bane having a silver mark on his middle finger); To get to the Well of Talents, you have to pass the Trials which are a mist of magic that give harsh weather scenarios and can kill people; If you submerge yourself into the lake of The Nightwell, you’ll reemerge with a Bane (some people call it a great power and others say it’s more of a weapon than a gift like a Talent); Banes are considered shortcuts for those who didn’t have the patience or appreciation for a Talent (they sought power with little thought of serving people with it and are driven by selfishness); There are many different Banes such as cursing others, commanding others to obey you, taking away someone else’s voice, etc.; Banes and Talents are others in competition to each other and if someone has both, they have to chose one or the other (this is said to be the struggle of the world, to choose between Bane and Talent); The water from Nightwell is said to be magic and not the magic Bastiaan is used to; Coralythe gives someone a Bane that causes his blood to be like poison to others (he is terrified by this but she says it’s a defense); *Spoiler* Myrthe is tossed into the Nightwell lake and a voice talks to her, promising a “gift” which can control someone else’s limbs like a puppeteer, and she uses it a few times (after saying to herself only once) to protect herself and others; She realizes shortly after, though, that she’ll continue to use it again and again, so she needs to get rid of it; Bastiaan swims in the Nightwell lake and is sucked under, being given the Bane to suck time from a person’s life; *End of Spoiler*; Due to Bastiaan’s Talent (to be able to snap his fingers which causes time to stop and he enters what he calls a “Stillness”, his physical body does not change, but anyone he brings with him will age), his soul is 107 years old, but he looks like a young man; Myrthe is called a savior for a group of people (twice); A woman is called a witch for having a Bane; All about many mentions of curses & being cursed; A mention of someone being looked at as an idol of a group; A mention of treating a Talent as an idol and not a gift; A mention of Myrthe thinking of Bastiaan’s Talent as “godlike”; A mention of Coralythe praising Nightwell for a small victory; A mention of someone being carried both towards and away from hell; A mention of someone liking to play the devil’s advocate. 

 

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘dumb’, two forms of ‘blast’, two ‘idiot’s, three ‘stupid’s; Made-up curses/phrases; a ‘for spring’s sake’, a ‘how in winter’s name’, five “Weather and Woods”s, and eighteen “Winter’s breath”s; Mentions of curses (including one by Bastiaan, said, not written); Sarcasm & Eye rolling; Some lies (some for safety, Myrthe also tries not to lie to someone); Seeing deaths & bodies (semi-detailed); Lots of Battles/Fighting, Knocking others out, Being Harmed, Harming others (in fights), Being choked, Major Pain, Injuries, Blood/Bleeding, & Being near death (semi-detailed to detailed); Preparing yourself for dying (barely-above-not-detailed); Passing out from the pain of being cursed (semi-detailed); Being whipped, screams, seeing someone being tortured & hints of what’s to come (up to semi-detailed); Being attacked by wasps, bears, giant spiders, scorpions, & fighting them (including killing them and thinking someone is killed by them, up to detailed); Seeing others shot with arrows and also stabbed, lots of their blood/bleeding, & them being near death (up to semi-detailed); Seeing an appendage cut off & the person’s pain (semi-detailed, *Spoiler* Sven has Bastiaan’s finger cut off *End of Spoiler*); Being drugged & drugging yourself (Myrthe, up to semi-detailed); Feeling guilt for events that caused others’ deaths (Myrthe and others try to talk to her about it not being her fault, semi-detailed); Wanting to hurt others that hurt you (Myrthe struggles with this feeling, up to semi-detailed); Myrthe wonders if she should die after being cursed (her grandmother tells her that her life “was given to [her]. A gift. And just because it’s yours doesn’t give you the right to end it”, though, Myrthe doesn’t think she’s being sincere, just wanting Myrthe’s Talent; her negative thoughts about giving up and there being nothing in this life for her happen a couple more times); Bastiaan wonders how he would die in the Stillness (since he doesn’t physically age), that it would have to be an accident or self-inflicted (which he puts out of his mind as that isn’t an option he was willing to consider since “he didn’t given himself life; therefore, he refused to put himself in a place of authority in which to take it”); Grieving the loss of parents (including Myrthe wishing that they never knew her, up to semi-detailed); Many, many mentions of illnesses, deaths, accidental deaths, people freezing to death, drownings/suffocating, murderers, pain, injuries, & blood/bleeding (including children, up to semi-detailed); Many, many mentions of fighting/battles, seeing others harming others and willing to kill, injuries, & blood/bleeding (up to semi-detailed); Many mentions of a rumored assassination/murder/death, the assassin/murderer, a fire, & bad burns (semi-detailed); Mentions of picturing dead people (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of near deaths (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of someone with a Bane commanding others to kill someone (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of executions, an execution order, being arrested, being tied up, & dungeons; Mentions of someone cutting off someone else’s appendage & them keeping it to show another (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of torture, screams, & threats of cutting from toes and fingers from a man who lusts for violence (semi-detailed); Mentions of rebellions & a potential war; Mentions of deaths on pilgrimages to the Well of Talents; Mentions of children being abandoned & freezing to death; Mentions of kidnappings & a possible one; Mentions of thieves, stealing, & pickpockets; Mentions of being physically punished by a grandmother (Myrthe, barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of frostbite & loosing toes and fingers (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of poisons; Mentions of blackmail & threats; Mentions of hatred; Mentions of lies, lying, & liars; Mentions of rumors, gossip, & eavesdropping; A few mentions of stabbing someone & being stabbed; A few mentions of jealousy; A couple mentions of a father who left his family; A couple mentions of drinking & ale; A couple mentions of hunting; A couple mentions of vomit; A couple mentions of slaughtering chickens; A mention of a plan to slit someone’s throat; A mention of a child being beaten; A mention of a man trying to beat the Talent out of a young Bastiaan; A mention of children swarming like crows on a carcass; A mention of a cell smelling of corpse; 

             *Note: A mention of wanting to tell someone where they can stick their request. 
 
 
Sexual Content- A palm kiss, a neck kiss, four barely-above-not-detailed kisses, and a border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed kiss; Wanting to kiss & the desire for someone; Touches, Embraces, Hand holding, Nearness, & Smelling (barely-above-not-detailed); Some noticing; Myrthe and Bastiaan hide under a blanket together but because the air gets stuffy fast, Myrthe jokes that it’s “certainly not how I pictured my first foray beneath a blanket with a man”; Mentions of a father selling his young teen daughter out to men & her becoming pregnant (including mentions of the baby being taken away from her, her thinking she was just a commodity, the father of the child “being the gentlest”, and that the young girl isn’t a prostitute but a warrior *Spoiler* This all happened to Anouk, Myrthe’s cousin, and due to the man who fathered the child thinking she’s the Wishtress, she ends up married to her abuser many years later, him not recognizing her *End of Spoiler*; Mentions of children being born-of-out-wedlock (including a young boy saying that his pa got “the wrong woman pregnant” and that he wasn’t supposed to be born); Mentions of kisses & kissing (including Myrthe thinking towards Sven that “I’d kiss him good anything to feel his lips on mine the way he kissed me in the winter. But summer had come. His kisses weren’t the same in the summer. Too light. Too quick.” And it changing that she no longer craves his kisses, barely-above-not-detailed); A mention of a man’s poor decisions in the past making an illegitimate child; A mention of Coralythe calling her husband an unfaithful beast; A mention of a young man thinking of a queen’s status as useless and degrading, which Myrthe wonders if that’s his view on marriage; A mention of using someone to make another jealous; Some love, falling in love, & the emotions;

             *Note: A couple mentions of being naked; A mention of a mother who died in labor. 
 
-Myrthe Valling, age 17
-Bastiaan Duur, around age 20
              P.O.V. switches between Myrthe (1^st person), Bastiaan (3^rd), and Coralythe (3^rd)  
                                                        464 pages

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Pre Teens- 

New Teens- 

Early High School Teens- 

Older High School Teens- 

My personal Rating- 

{Minus a full star for those sensitive to fighting, harming others, & deaths}

I literally gasped when I turned the page and saw the Discussion Questions. 

That was the end?!

That was the end. 

Huh.

I wasn’t expecting that. And while I can’t say I loved it, I didn’t hate it either. 

Let’s back up a bit.

~

Nadine Brandes is a popular author in the Christian Fantasy industry and I’ve read a couple of her books before with others still on my TBR. 

Though I’ve attempted to read Christian Fantasy books for years, it’s only been recently started enjoying some fantasy books. I think I still have a limit on what my poor brain can held in regard to the fantasy elements of a plot. 

So, yes, that was my personal main struggle with this book. I think big fantasy fans okay with the content listed above would probably enjoy this book quite a bit, but I’m not a big fantasy fan. Some parts turned my stomach in terms of battles/fighting/maiming others along with a few sexual hints. This author definitely is not afraid to hurt her characters for the greater good of the plot and I found myself wondering at many times, “will Myrthe and Bastiaan ever catch a break?” I felt pretty neutral to both of them, but I did really like the fact that their hypocrisy was pointed out (numerous times) and that they each reflected on it themselves, not necessarily because someone else pointed it out. I preferred reading Bastiaan’s parts more than Myrthe’s (not only because of Runt, but, yes, mainly because of Runt and his relationship), but I think that’s because I had a harder time connecting to her. I felt like their romance was a little out-of-left-field and never really felt they belong together, personally. Runt was easily my favorite of the characters and that ending, again, shocked me because I was looking forward to seeing what was next. 

All that said, for me personally, I don’t think this was my type of fantasy book due to all the fighting and harming, let alone all the fantasy elements. 

 

Magic & Allegory Notes: I’ve seen a few other reviews mention about the “Christian fiction vibes” at the end and to be completely honest, I didn’t see that at all. There is a very slight allegory within the plot. But it’s not done in the way of different names for God, Jesus, and the devil. It’s more of a spiritual thread, then actual Christianity, in my personal opinion. You can definitely connect the two together, but it’s more symbolic in this story such as someone being made new in the Well of Talents and the Well speaking to those with Talents, saying it/he is with them. There’s similarities and it’s definitely the classic good vs evil fight, but I wouldn’t say it’s obviously Christian. 

In terms of magic, the actual word “magic” is used about ten times and in the way that Myrthe’s wishes and other Talents are described. There’s no wizards or wands, but there is curses (used by the “bad guys”) and such mentioned frequently throughout the story, with Myrthe being cursed and all. 

 

 

See y’all on Friday with a new review! 

*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.

"Romanov" by Nadine Brandes

About this book:

  “The history books say I died.
    They don’t know the half of it.
  Anastasia “Nastya” Romanov was given a single mission: to smuggle an ancient spell into her suitcase on her way to exile in Siberia. It might be her family’s only salvation. But the leader of the Bolshevik army is after them . . . and he’s hunted Romanov before.
  Nastya’s only chances of survival are to either release the spell, and deal with the consequences, or enlist help from Zash, the handsome soldier who doesn’t act like the average Bolshevik. Nastya’s never dabbled in magic before, but it doesn’t frighten her as much as her growing attraction for Zash. She likes him. She thinks he might even like her . . .
  That is, until she’s on one side of a firing squad . . . and he’s on the other.”


Series: No, standalone.


Spiritual Content- A few Prayers; A couple Scriptures are mentioned & remembered; Mentions of Jesus (Iisus) & showing forgiveness; Mentions of prayers, praying, & blessings over food; Mentions of churches & nuns; A few mentions of the Bible & Bible reading; A mention of Heaven; A mention of Easter;

             *Note: Saying spells & causing healing for someone; All about many mentions of spells, spell masters, them healing/curing others, & magical items (it should be noted that when the spells in this book are said they do not provide tangible object; one spell sends Anastasia to the “spirit realm” (like a ghost) halfway in the living and halfway in the dead); Mentions of ghosts & souls; A few mentions of sirens.

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘dumb’; A few mentions of muttered curses & shouting profanities; Some eye rolling; Lying (for the safety of her family); All about exile & the possibility of being killed; Stabbing someone & blood (semi-detailed); Being shot, nearly being strangled, injured, & bleeding (up to very semi-detailed); Seeing deaths, loved ones shot and murdered, hearing gunshots, injuries, pain, deaths, their bloody bodies, blood, & bleeding (semi-detailed to very semi-detailed); Seeing someone almost commit suicide (up to semi-detailed); Many mentions of deaths, murders, executions, & firing squads (up to very semi-detailed); Many mentions of gunshots, bullets, pain, injuries, blood, & bleeding (up to very semi-detailed); Mentions of someone almost taking his life; Mentions of riots & their awful words; Mentions of threats; Mentions of stealing & thieves; Mentions of alcohol, drinking, & drunks; Mentions of hatred; Mentions of lies & lying; A few mentions of bloody bodies (barely-above-not-detailed); A few mentions of a possible lynching; A few mentions of cigarettes & smoke; A few mentions of gossip; A few mentions of beloved dogs being killed (no details on how, just that they are dead); A couple mentions of someone being runover (barely-above-not-detailed); A couple mentions of shooting a horse (barely-above-not-detailed); A mention of a dog catching a squirrel.

Sexual Content- a border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed kiss; Touches, Hand Holding, & Nearness (barely-above-not-detailed); Wanting to hold hands; Flirting & Winks (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of kisses, seeing a kiss, kissing, & blowing a kiss; Mentions of flirting & flirts; Mentions of a married woman spending time with a man alone (nothing happened, it was gossiped to a possible romantic tryst but was not at all); A few mentions of men who cannot keep their hands to themselves; A couple mentions of noticing; A couple mentions of jealousy; A mention of a married couple kissing; Some love, falling in love, & the emotions;

             *Note: A threat towards Anastasia to tear off her clothing to find something she hid (does not happen); A few mentions of Anastasia and her sister stuffing items down their corsets; A few mentions of the bosom area; A couple mentions of girls’ figures.

-Anastasia “Nastya” Romanov, age 16-17
                                1^st person P.O.V. of Nastya

                                        Set in 1918
                                                337 pages

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Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating-

{Not for those sensitive to executions or magic.}

Compared to the author’s previous historical fantasy, “Fawkes”, I knew much more about the history in “Romanov” than the gunpowder plot.

Heartbreaking. That’s the best way I can describe what happened to the Romanov family.

And here’s the thing: While this fictional retelling of that historic event obviously had its sad and suspenseful moments, it had hope lined with the pages and a believable end that wasn’t the “all-wrapped-up-with-a-neat-little-bow”. It had its own heartbreaking moments, moments where you could feel the pain of Nastya.

Let’s note some details for this book’s review:

 -While “Fawkes” (which is in no way connected to this book; it’s just the same genre of historical fantasy) was set around the time of Protestants and Catholics, those two denominations were not specifically said at all during the nearly four-hundred and fifty paged book. I found the faith content to be missing in that novel. “Romanov” was refreshingly different in this way. Anastasia and her father would mention the Russian name for Jesus and pray along with read the Bible at different times. While still lighter faith content than I typically enjoy, I was happy to see that in this book as I wasn’t expecting any faith content.

 -This book felt way too short. I was imagining that this new novel would be in the 400-pages length, so when I opened this package, I was a bit surprised at how thin it was. Less than 340 pages which is pretty on par for YA, but I do think the story moved a bit too fast at times. The ending was paced out well, though.

 -On the topic of something being too fast. The romance. It really started about half-way through the book, but it seemed to develop quickly. So, that felt a little rushed to me.

 -The spells. Magic in Christian Fiction is always a touchy topic. Always. In the world of “Romanov”, the spells are/were used by those who have studied and are only used for helping others. Anastasia uses a spell to provide relief for her brother when he is in pain. With the exception of someone using a tracking spell to track someone else, none of the spells/magic were used in evil/harming ways. In all honestly, the spells in this book are probably the lightest form of “magic-y stuff” I’ve read in a fantasy (not that I read a lot of fantasy, but you know what I mean.)

 -While I know this book is historical fantasy, there were a few parts that seemed unrealistic. I’ll be honest to admit that I still don’t quite understand all the spell parts and such. But it was interesting. I really like Nastya’s character though that was shown throughout the novel.

   

So. All that to say that this was an interesting book. And that it’s not for those sensitive towards magic, executions, pain/blood, or very sensitive towards the topic of suicide. Nadine Brandes has a certain way about her writing that’s hard to describe but like a unique way of thinking through her writing. It’s different and it’s what kept me interested in her books even though I know there may be some content I won’t like. While “Romanov” definitely had its heartbreaking moments, there also were added parts that made this story a little more hopeful.

See y’all on Friday with a new review!

*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.